Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.14191/Atmos.2020.30.4.391

The Relationship of Particulate Matter and Visibility Under Different Meteorological Conditions in Seoul, South Korea  

Kim, Minseok (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yonsei University)
Lee, Seoyoung (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yonsei University)
Cho, Yeseul (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yonsei University)
Koo, Ja-Ho (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yonsei University)
Yum, Seong Soo (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yonsei University)
Kim, Jhoon (Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yonsei University)
Publication Information
Atmosphere / v.30, no.4, 2020 , pp. 391-404 More about this Journal
Abstract
To understand the characteristics of the relationship between visibility and particulate matter (PM) in different meteorological conditions, we investigated the contributions of PM and relative humidity (RH) to visibility in Seoul, South Korea. For the period from 2001 to 2018, both PM and RH show descending trends, resulting in a visibility increase. PM has little impact on the hourly variation of visibility, which could be explained more by the RH variability. Meanwhile, the daily change of PM accounts for daily visibility variation. For the monthly variation of visibility, both PM and RH showed similar influence. The correlation coefficients of PM10, PM2.5, and RH with visibility was -0.486, -0.644, and -0.556, respectively, which became higher during the high PM seasons of spring and winter. The correlation coefficient between PM2.5 and visibility was -0.454 for RH higher than 80%, and -0.780 for RH between 40% and 60%. From 2017 to 2018, there were 10 cases of extreme visibility impairment, among which five cases were incurred by high PM pollution, and two cases were by high humidity. Further analysis with PM chemical composition measurements is required to better understand the characteristics of visibility in Seoul.
Keywords
Visibility; particulate matter; relative humidity; haze; air quality;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Ahmed, E., K.-H. Kim, Z.-H. Shon, and S.-K. Song, 2015: Long-term trend of airborne particulate matter in Seoul, Korea from 2004 to 2013. Atmos. Environ., 101, 125-133, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.11.024.   DOI
2 Bzdek, B. R., and J. S. Walker, 2019: Vibrational spectroscopy of individual aerosol droplets by optical tweezers. Spectroscopy, 34, 22-31.
3 Chen, J., S. Qiu, J. Shang, O. M. F. Wilfrid, X. Liu, H. Tian, and J. Boman, 2014: Impact of relative humidity and water soluble constituents of PM2.5 on visibility impairment in Beijing, China. Aerosol Air Qual. Res., 14, 260-268, doi:10.4209/aaqr.2012.12.0360.   DOI
4 Cheng, Z., S. Wang, J. Jiang, Q. Fu, C. Chen, B. Xu, J. Yu, X. Fu, and J. Hao, 2013: Long-term trend of haze pollution and impact of particulate matter in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Environ. Pollut., 182, 101-110, doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2013.06.043.   DOI
5 Cho, H. K., M. J. Jeong, J. Kim, and Y. J. Kim, 2003: Dependence of diffuse photosynthetically active solar irradiance on total optical depth. J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4267.
6 Fu, C., J. Wu, Y. Gao, D. Zhao, and Z. Han, 2013: Consecutive extreme visibility events in China during 1960-2009. Atmos. Environ., 68, 1-7, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.11.035.   DOI
7 Ghim, Y. S., K.-C. Moon, S. Lee, and Y. P. Kim, 2005: Visibility trends in Korea during the past two decades. J. Air Waste Manag. Assoc., 55, 73-82.   DOI
8 Hyslop, N. P., 2009: Impaired visibility: the air pollution people see. Atmos. Environ., 43, 182-195.   DOI
9 IPCC, 2013: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to The Fifth Assessment Report of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. T. F. Stocker et al. Eds., Cambridge University Press, 1535 pp.
10 Kang, C.-M., H. S. Lee, B.-W. Kang, S.-K. Lee, and Y. Sunwoo, 2004: Chemical characteristics of acidic gas pollutants and PM2.5 species during hazy episodes in Seoul, South Korea. Atmos. Environ., 38, 4749-4760.   DOI
11 Kim, D.-S., 2013: Air pollution history, regulatory changes, and remedial measures of the current regulatory regimes in Korea. J. Korean Soc. Atmos. Environ., 29, 353-368, doi:10.5572/KOSAE.2013.29.4.353 (in Korean with English abstract).   DOI
12 Kim, H. C., and Coauthors, 2017: Recent increase of surface particulate matter concentrations in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Korea. Sci. Rep., 7, 4710.   DOI
13 Kim, H.-S., J.-B. Huh, P. K. Hopke, T. M. Holsen, and S.-M. Yi, 2007: Characteristics of the major chemical constituents Of PM2.5 and smog events in Seoul, Korea in 2003 and 2004. Atmos. Environ., 41, 6762-6770.   DOI
14 Kim, Y. J., and K. W. Kim, 2003: Visibility impairment by atmospheric fine particles in an urban area. J. Korean Soc. Atmos. Environ., 19, 99-120 (in Korean with English abstract).
15 Kim, Y. J. K. W. Kim, S. D. Kim, B. K. Lee, and J. S. Han, 2006: Fine particulate matter characteristics and its impact on visibility impairment at two urban sites in Korea: Seoul and Incheon. Atmos. Environ., 40, 593-605.
16 KMA, 2015: Methodologies of Fog Analysis and Forecasting. Korea Meteorological Administration, 24 pp.
17 KMA, 2018: The standard of automatic meteorological observation instrument, Korea Meteorological Administration, 21 pp.
18 Lee, A. K. Y., T. Y. Ling, and C. K. Chan, 2008: Understanding hygroscopic growth and phase transformation of aerosols using single particle Raman spectroscopy in an electrodynamic balance. Faraday Discuss., 137, 245-263.   DOI
19 McCartney, E. J., 1976: Optics of the Atmosphere: Scattering by Molecules and Particles. Wiley, 408 pp.
20 Lee, S., M. Kim, S.-Y. Kim, D.-W. Lee, H. Lee, J. Kim, S. Le, and Y. Liu, 2020: Assessment of long-range transboundary aerosols in Seoul, South Korea from Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) and ground-based observations. Environ. Pollut., revised, doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115924.   DOI
21 McInnes, L., M. Bergin, J. Ogren, and S. Schwartz, 1998: Apportionment of light scattering and hygroscopic growth to aerosol composition. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 513-516.   DOI
22 ME, 2013: Second Metropolitan atmospheric environmental management basic plan. Ministry of Environment of Korea, 107 pp.
23 ME 2018: Annual report of air quality in Korea 2018, Ministry of Environment of Korea, 327 pp.
24 Park, J.-S., S.-M. Park, I.-H. Song, H.-J. Shin, and Y.-D. Hong, 2015: Characteristics of visibility impairment by semi-continuous optical and chemical property monitoring of aerosols in Seoul. J. Korean Soc. Atmos. Environ., 31, 319-329 (in Korean with English abstract).   DOI
25 Shen, X. J., and Coauthors, 2015: Characterization of submicron aerosols and effect on visibility during a severe haze-fog episode in Yangtze River Delta, China. Atmos. Environ., 120, 307-316, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.09.011.   DOI
26 Skupin, A., A. Ansmann, R. Engelmann, P. Seifert, and T. Muller, 2016: Four-year long-path monitoring of ambient aerosol extinction at a central European urban site: dependence on relative humidity. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1863-1876, doi:10.5194/acp-16-1863-2016.   DOI
27 Sloan, C. S., and W. H. White, 1986: Visibility: An evolving issue. Environ. Sci. Technol., 20, 760-766.   DOI
28 Wang, X., R. Zhang, and W. Yu, 2019: The effects of PM2.5 concentrations and relative humidity on atmospheric visibility in Beijing. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 124, 2235-2259, doi:10.1029/2018JD029269.   DOI
29 Sun, X., T. Zhao, D. Liu, S. Gong, J. Xu, and X. Ma, 2020: Quantifying the influences of PM2.5 and relative humidity on change of atmospheric visibility over recent winters in an urban area of East China. Atmosphere, 11, 461-472, doi:10.3390/atmos11050461.   DOI
30 Um, H.-H., K.-J. Ha, and S.-S. Lee, 2007: Evaluation of the urban effect of long-term relative humidity and the separation of temperature and water vapor effects. Int. J. Climatol., 27, 1531-1542.   DOI
31 Xiao, S., and Coauthors, 2014: Long-term trends in visibility and impacts of aerosol composition on visibility impairment in Baoji, China. Atmos. Res., 149, 88-95, doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2014.06.006.   DOI
32 Xiao, Z.-M., Y.-F. Zhang, S.-M. Hong, X.-H. Bi, L. Jiao, Y.-C. Feng, and Y.-Q. Wang, 2011: Estimation of the main factors influencing haze, based on a long-term monitoring campaign in Hangzhou, China. Aerosol Air Qual. Res., 11, 873-882, doi:10.4209/aaqr.2011.04.0052.   DOI
33 Yang, L.-X., D.-C. Wang, S.-H. Cheng, Z. Wang, Y. Zhou, X.-H. Zhou, and W.-X. Wang, 2007: Influence of meteorological conditions and particulate matter on visual range impairment in Jinan, China. Sci. Total Environ., 383, 164-173.   DOI
34 Yeo, M. J., Y .S. Im, S. S. Yoo, E. M. Jeon, and Y. P. Kim, 2019: Long-term trend of PM2.5 concentration in Seoul. J. Korean Soc. Atmos. Environ., 35, 438-450, doi:10.5572/KOSAE.2019.35.4.438 (in Korean with English abstract).   DOI
35 Yoon, S.-C., and J. Kim, 2006: Influences of relative humidity on aerosol optical properties and aerosol radiative forcing during ACE-Asia. Atmos. Environ., 40, 4328-4338.   DOI
36 Zhao, H., H. Che, X. Zhang, Y. Ma, Y. Wang, H. Wang, and Y. Wang, 2013: Characteristics of visibility and particulate matter (PM) in an urban area of Northeast China. Atmos. Pollut. Res., 4, 427-434, doi:10.5094/APR.2013.049.   DOI